Manchester is the surprise winner of the bid to site the first ever UK super casino, beating favourites Blackpool and Greenwich. The Manchester bid promised the "highest standards of social responsibility", managed by an independent Community Trust.

The doors to the world’s most comprehensive amusements show open on 23 January as organisers stage the 63rd edition of the annual Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) at London’s Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The show’s international flavour will be more pronounced this time round as Clarion ATE announces the highest ever proportion of international participation, with non-UK exhibitors outnumbering their domestic counterparts for the second successive year.

The American culture war continues, seeping into the amusement industry. "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," a new Christian video game has become the latest battleground for both sides of the religious battleground. Left Behind Games Inc., the manufacturer, claims it promotes prayer.

The investment and inspection delegation from Taiwan’s electronic game industry traveled to three places in Central and South America including the City of Panama, Panama, San Pedro Sula of Honduras, and Guatemala City, Guatemala. The delegation comprised of 9 Taiwanese gaming companies, Hwei Chung Electronic, San Jyi Huang Enterprise, Sheng Far Electronic, Sheng Bau Amusement Machine, Bingotimes, Feiloli Electronic, Kawang Yi Technology, Pai Shih Hsin Enterprise and Tian Yinn Technology.

At the end of 2006, Bally Wulff started a dialogue offensive within the sector. The aim of the Berlin company is to secure "a completely new relationship with our customers" and to open itself to experiences from other leisure sectors. Since : "We do not wish to preside over a gradual decline. We want to make the connection to entertainment. And for this we need the courage to make constant changes."

It was a bit of a scramble for the betting industry to snatch up the betting shop licences made available by the State late last year. Controversially, the licences were only offered to those companies who were already stakeholders in the betting shop industry – causing some in the coin-op sector to feel let down by the government.

An exciting development unveiled at ATEi 2007 is JPM International‚s new Prestige cabinet. This new cabinet has been created to deliver JPM International‚s vision of the future and plays an important part in the company‚s aggressive growth strategy throughout 2007. The new machine is the result of substantial investment in new skills, personnel, product development, hardware, software, support and training as the company transitions future products and game play towards video based content.

Following the recent elections, Mercè Claramunt Bielsa becomes the new Director General responsible for Gaming and Entertainment in the Catalonian autonomous government taking over from Xavier Guitart who has been head of the department until now. Mr. Guitart, whilst he was in that position, was able to increase the dialogue between the different Spanish regional communities, as well as strengthening the contact between the Administration and the representatives of the various business associations representing casinos, bingo halls and manufacturers of amusement machines.

The High Court of Justice in Madrid has rejected the Appeal made by the Madrid regional government, and by so doing confirms the ruling made by the Administrative Law Court No. 3 in favour of Recreativos Franco, by which the competence of its Auxiliary Metrology Verification Laboratory is recognized, and with it the legal certification of the counters which are built into its amusement machines.

DT Productions and Sound Leisure will unveil the first dedicated digital jukebox service for France at this year’s ATEI – stand 2330. The French jukebox is a result of months of complicated negotiations with the major record labels in France, as well as a landmark copyright deal with the French collections agency, La Société Civile des Producteurs Phonographiques (SCCP).

Art Matin a former global business manager for IBM Corporation and senior executive of several technology companies, has joined digital-jukebox leader TouchTunes Music Corporation as President and Chief Executive Officer. Matin was also named to TouchTunes’ board of directors. Matin succeeds John Perrachon, who remains an active member of TouchTunes’ board and a major stockholder, according to William Meder, TouchTunes chairman.

Whittaker Brothers has signed a landmark deal with a Chinese manufacturer to distribute its range of children’s carousels. Whittaker’s estimates the agreement with Zhongshan Luck could add 20 per cent to its turnover. The coin-operated horse carousel will be shown at the ATEI on stand 2149 along with the full Whittaker's range including derby racers and novelties.

At the Court Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting of Talarius Shareholders held earlier earlier this month, Talarius Shareholders voted to approve the acquisition of Talarius by European Gaming (a joint venture company controlled by Tattersall's and Macquarie). This follows a surprise price escalation in the bid by European Gaming a week earlier.

President Putin finally signed the law establishing four gambling zones in Russia at the end of last year. The law, which will come into effect on July 1, 2009 bans gaming facilities operating outside specified zones, which are to be located in the Altai Territory (southwest Siberia), Primorye (Far East), the Kaliningrad Region (Russia's exclave on the Baltic Sea), and on the border of the Rostov Region and the Krasnodar Territory in the south of the country.

For decades now, the gambling sector in Ireland has bemoaned the fact that the regulation with which it must comply dates as far back as 1956 and is unable to cater for today’s gambling activities. But not for much longer. In a move likely to regulate the casino sector in Ireland and possibly update the rules for amusement machines, the Irish Department of Justice is currently reviewing its options, with the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell set to propose legislation later this year. Lucy Cronin from Policy Action reports.

A new era for ATEI and for the industry as a whole. Many column inches have been devoted to the changes planned for this year’s show and what they could mean. Speculation is now over, stands are up and visitors thronging the aisles. Is it a great success or not?

Roland Kellner, Service Manager at NSM-Löwen Entertainment has stated his intention to increase the size of his customer service team around 40 percent. This means that over the coming weeks and months the service staff will be increased from around 50 to over 70 employees, according to the company.

Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported last month that a controversial law entitled Penal Code Article 301 will be used to ban online gaming in the country. The law was initially introduced to combat indecent broadcasts but its powers have been extended and it will now be used to stop people from wagering on the web.

Ladbrokes has signed a deal with the Cirsa Corporation to develop a sports betting business in Spain. Cirsa subsidiary Cirsa Slot has negotiated the deal which will now apply for new betting licences that are currently on offer in Madrid as a result of a new law passed at the end of last year.

Funworld Greece is attempting to speak to the Greek Finance Minister on the subject of compensation for the illegal ban of its ban on electronic games. The ban was introduced in 2002 and four years later was deemed unconstitutional by the European Court. Greece now has to make the necessary changes, or be liable to fines.

Slovenia officially joined the euro zone on 1 January 2007. Euro notes and coins have been circulating since then and a period of two weeks has been set for double circulation of tolars and euros. Slovenia is the first of the countries which joined the EU in 2004 to adopt the Single Currency.

Carlos J Tessmar has joined Spanish manufacturer GiGames. He is is 32 years old, half German and half Spanish, and was born in Italy. He is a fluent speaker of English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. He has used his language skills in the export industry for 11 years.

Bavaria and Lower Saxony have drafted a bill that would impose a fine and a maximum of one year in jail on developers, distributors and players of video games in which the goal is to inflict "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters."

Whittaker Brothers has signed a landmark deal with a Chinese manufacturer to distribute its range of children’s carousels. Whittaker’s estimates the agreement with Zhongshan Luck could add 20 per cent to its turnover.

Bell-Fruit Games will capitalize on the success of the phenomenal licence Deal or no Deal at this year’s ATEI. The third AWP in the series, called What’s in your Box? will be launched at the show. In addition, the Club edition of the game will be on the stand. This has been the fastest ever seller for Bell-Fruit and has topped machine charts for weeks.

UK gaming and amusement machine distributor; RLMS Sales has signed an exclusive contract with Amutec Kiddie Rides. This year, RLMS Sales will continue to expand on its product portfolio as it branches into a new area with Amutec’s distinctive range of Kiddie Rides, which will be sold throughout the UK.

Harry Levy Amusements is making the most of its new position on stand 2440 with an array of amusement products that will raise the spirits of all ATEI visitors. The new machines due to be shown at the London show include Jungle Bob, a four-player with a revolving deck peppered with holes.

Games Warehouse has confirmed that its number one performing game on its Paragon terminals is the ingenious bingo game from Nova Productions, Skill Ball Bingo. Skill Ball Bingo is currently unique to the 6,500-plus Paragon estate and, as such, is an important point of difference for the Paragon family.

During the past two months, the first sales phase of Photo Play’s PRO terminals and the new System 2007 has set in with presentations around the globe. “With PRO Generation and SYSTEM 2007 we were able to introduce an entire terminal generation and new software together for the first time.

Electrocoin will host the worldwide debut of Taito’s Chase H.Q. 2, the long awaited follow up to the classic game from the 80s on stand 610 on the ground floor of ATEI. The game is vailable in both sit down and upright format, the advanced graphics and forced-feedback steering ensure that the game gives players a superb experience.

When the Lenton Centre – a UK community project - appealed to the Nottinghamshire Business In the Community scheme for help in renovating their swimming pool, there was only one company for the job.

The International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) has chosen the Strachan brand and UK-based Milliken Woollen Speciality Products as its official cloth partner for the next three years. The agreement was signed by IBSF President Pascal Guillaume, with Duncan Kettell representing Milliken, during the Federation’s annual general meeting in Jordan.

Sound Leisure made a special presentation to factory manager Dave Lee last week to celebrate a quarter of a century of loyal service to the company. Lee joined Leeds-based Sound Leisure when he was just 16 years old and the company itself was still in its infancy.

UK and Ireland amusements distributor, Brent Sales has bolstered its field sales team with the appointment of Geoff Spencer. He joins the company as Regional Sales Manager, effective 1st January 2007, reporting to newly promoted Head of Sales, Mick Kennedy.

Silver Spirit from Reflex Gaming will be shown at this year’s ATEI on stand number 820 . It is a basic lo-tech AWP machine with 50p stake and £35 jackpot, housed in a chrome-trimmed cabinet. The player is awarded either Bar, Cherry, Blue Seven or Mixed Bar Wins. The latter awards a Mystery Cash Prize

Robert C. Ward, one of the four original partners in Bay Tek Games, died in December. Originally from El Paso, Texas, Ward found his way up north and graduated from the Madison School of Banking and then served his country in the United States Air Force. “He was the money man and the funny man,” said Larry Treankler, CEO of Bay Tek Games.

The first Hot Games Show was held on November 3-5 at the Taichung World Trade Center in Taiwan. The show attracted around 54 exhibitors and visitors from all over the globe, including the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.